"Stumps from an ancient forest emerged in July from their ice tomb," the article continues. "Some still have their bark."

This article by Mary Catharine Martin really caught my attention because many years ago I lived just a quarter mile in front of the Mendenhall Glacier. My wife and I visited it often, took our dog for walks there, and corralled ice from the glacial lake for our scotch on the rocks. I was wary of ice worms, of course, but I figured the alcohol would kill them. (Young guys are invincible, don't you know?)

But I digress.

Global warming zealots must have been overjoyed when they read that headline, because to them it's proof of global warming.

But I see it a different way. I see it as undeniable proof that it has been warmer in the past.

Undeniable proof that it has been warmer in the past

The most recent stumps are between 1,400 and 1,200 years old, says UAS Professor of Geology and Environmental Science Program Coordinator Cathy Connor, who has been tracking the emergence of the ancient forest. The oldest stumps she’s tested are around 2,350 years old. She’s also dated some at around 1,870 to 2,000 years old.

So let me ask you. How is it possible that those not-so-ancient forests could have grown if it wasn't warmer at the time?

It is not possible.

Those stumps are undeniable proof that it has been warmer in the past; undeniable proof that today's warming is not unusual or unprecedented. You don't need five advanced degrees in order to see this, it's simple common sense.

And the warming must have lasted for quite some time.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but some of those stumps look to be two, three, even four feet in diameter. It would have taken many years of warmth to have developed entire forests of such large trees in those now-glaciated areas.

As one of my readers points out, even at the smaller diameter, it takes 60 to 70 years for pines in the UK at around 500 feet in altitude to get to that size. "It's possible that the trees were seeded at the time the Romans advanced for the first time or second time into Britain during the Roman warm period."

Ice advances 'faster than a running dog'

In other areas of Southeast Alaska, tree remains tell stories about other glaciers, Martin continues.

"In Glacier Bay, Connor and other researchers have found evidence of ice advances more than 5,000 years ago. They’ve also documented the glacial advance between 1724 and 1794 A.D. that pushed Huna Tlingit off their land, and written a paper incorporating those cultural and geographic histories. In that paper they cite Tlingit histories recorded by Richard and Nora Dauenhauer as saying that glacier was growing and advancing 'faster than a running dog.'"

Even today, the Taku Glacier south of Juneau is slowly advancing, pushing live cottonwoods out of the way, says Martin. It's the only glacier of the 32 glaciers in the Juneau ice-field that is now advancing.

(Let me point out however, that as a whole the Juneau ice-field, which is the fifth-largest ice field in the Western Hemisphere, is growing. (See http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/20801 )

It's a cycle, it's cycle, it's a cycle

“It’s an ongoing process,” said Professor Emeritus of Geophysics Roman Motyka. The recession of Eagle and Herbert glaciers is revealing trees of a similar age.

“We’re seeing the Mendenhall wax and wane through time a little bit,” said Connor.

It's a cycle, in other words.

It's a cycle, it's cycle, it's a cycle, and humans have nothing to do with it.

So let me ask you again.

Are your leaders misguided? Or are they deliberately lying?

Image Courtesy of juneauempire.com: The stump of an ancient tree is visible at the base of the Mendenhall Glacier in July of 2013. UAS Professor of Geology and Environmental Science Program Coordinator Cathy Connor said she and her team have found the trees to be between 1,400 and 1,200 years old. The oldest she’s tested are around 2,350 years old. She’s also dated some at around 1,870 to 2,000 years old.

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